This Week In Motoring: August 18, 2014

Hell Is Getting Crowded
Now, two cars are getting the Hades-powered Hellcat treatment. Dodge has followed up their 707-horsepower Challenger SRT Hellcat with a four-door version known as the Charger SRT Hellcat. They claim it’s the world’s most powerful sedan, which is saying something. It’s truly a fearsome American beast; just make sure you set aside money for tires. A lot of tires. chrysler.com

Record-Breaking Stallion At this year’s The Quail at Pebble Beach, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO went for $38,115,000, making it the most expensive car ever sold at auction. bonhams.com

The Future of Eco Cars Is Our Youth
Think a Tesla S gets great mileage? The annual Shell-Eco Marathon competition produced a student-designed vehicle, the Elba, that gets 98 miles on 15 cents worth of electricity by using ultra-thin solar cells. No, it doesn’t have room for golf clubs. inhabitat.com

Son of the Volt
It’s well known that the Chevy Volt hasn’t been a sales slam dunk, but Chevy is still building its successor, which will be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show next year. Expect it to look less anemic and get even better mpgs. caranddriver.com

The Science Behind Tony Stewart’s Sprint Car
Tony Stewart hitting and killing Kevin Ward Jr. on the track was tragic — but in order to understand what actually took place and why, you need to know how a sprint Car is designed. The rest may just remain a mystery. popularmechanics.com

The World’s Greatest Drag Race
In the spirit of good fun and serious speed, Motor Trend pitted their 11 contenders for the best performance car of the year against each other in a drag race back in 2012. This year marks their third running of the race with a combined 98 cylinders, 5,394 lb-ft of torque, 6,140 horsepower, nine turbochargers and $1,895,515 between 12 of the best performance cars in the world. motortrend.com

The Saleen FourSixteen
No one is complaining about the Tesla Model S’s performance — the thing can outrun an M5 in a drag race — but if you still think this electric cruise missile of a car is lacking on speed, the guys at Saleen have turned things up to 11. The FourSixteen includes an improved AC induction motor and an improved gear ratio to increase acceleration, as well as track-focused suspension and aerodynamics. And also more cupholders. saleen.com (★)

The Briefing

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